


Color Me Beautiful

by anastasiapullingteeth



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Hair Dyeing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 17:56:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11628837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anastasiapullingteeth/pseuds/anastasiapullingteeth
Summary: Éponine is a hairdresser that may or may not have a little crush on one of her clients. Who would’ve thought dyeing someone’s hair could be such an intimate experience?





	Color Me Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alopey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alopey/gifts).



> A contribution to [Les Mis WLW Week](http://persephonah.tumblr.com/post/162241826110) I wrote for Nali!

Éponine considered her job a form of art. Just like a face with makeup, the hair was a blank canvas where she could express herself and, at the same time, highlight the beauty of her clients. And when it came to clients, there were an immense variety. Éponine had gotten them of all kinds: from traditionalists that asked for the same plain haircut every third week, to those that asked for an elaborated braid one day and shaved their heads entirely the next. But from all of Éponine’s clients, Cosette was, by far, her favorite.

Éponine had taken care of the girl’s hair for about four years since Cosette moved to the city to go to college. Her natural blonde hair was the softest Éponine had ever touched in her life and it had a sweet smell of lavender. Cosette was one of the regulars: she cut her hair every second Monday of the month without fail. It was April 10th, and Éponine’s eyes kept diverting to the door every once in a while as she cut Musichetta’s hair.

“Watch out the ears,” Bahorel whispered as he walked next to her. His cheeky grin prompted a deadly glare from Éponine, but she actually looked down to where the blades of her scissors were cutting tips of brown hair.

Musichetta, another of their regular clients, looked up from her phone at Bahorel’s words and said “It’s the second Monday of the month already? How wonderful! I bet Cosette is on her way here. I wouldn’t worry if I were you.”

“I’m not wor-” Éponine began to argue, but the door opened in the middle of her sentence, giving way to a certain girl with blonde hair.

Cosette walked inside the establishment, smiling and waving a hand to those she was already familiar with. The place was full of people, but Bahorel’s chair was free and Éponine felt herself sliding into mild panic. Bahorel approached her and took the scissors from her hands. “Thank you, darling. I’ll take it from here- Oh! Hi, Cosette!” he said towards the blonde, feigning surprise. “Lucky you, Éponine’s free.” He pushed Éponine away and took her place doing Musichetta’s hair, who was hiding her smile behind her hand.

Cosette grinned and walked closer to Éponine. “Oh, is she really? Because I have no doubt of your talent, Bahorel, but ‘Ponine’s the only one that knows how to handle my hair.”

“Yeah, I won’t argue with that,” Bahorel nodded, winking an eye at Éponine, whose cheeks had taken an interesting shade of red.

Cosette took a seat on the free chair after saying hello to Musichetta, and nodded her approval for Éponine to begin. Éponine took a deep breath, intructing her hands to stop shaking, and untied Cosette’s hair from the ponytail, running her fingers through the blonde curtain falling down the girl’s back. Through the reflection on the mirror in front of them, Éponine saw Cosette closing her eyes and smiling peacefully, leaning a little bit into the touch. “The usual?” Éponine asked.

“You know it,” Cosette answered without opening her eyes.

Éponine caressed down Cosette’s scalp and let her fingers linger a little on the blonde’s neck before taking her brush and water spray bottle.

 

***

 

The time seemed to slow down every time Cosette visited and Éponine didn’t even feel her coworkers’ mischievous looks. Cosette would open her eyes every once in a while to glance at Éponine and smile, but she mostly kept them closed, seemingly enjoying Éponine’s hands on her. Éponine, shamelessly, prolonged the procedure as much as she could, but there was a point where enough was enough and she had to let the girl go.

She brushed the remaining hair off Cosette’s shoulders and back, and rubbed her upper arm. “Okay, we’re done,” she announced.

Cosette opened her eyes and looked into the mirror Éponine was holding behind her. “Perfect. As always,” the blonde declared, turning her head around to look at her head from different angles. “Thank you, ‘Ponine.”

She stood up and went to talk to Courfeyrac after patting Éponine’s shoulder affectionately. Éponine busied herself sweeping the floor around her chair and, a few minutes later, she saw Cosette walking back to her. “Is something wrong?” Éponine asked.

“Nope. But I was talking to your boss and she said I should stay here for a while. Just watching. Since I’ve nothing better to do, I thought it’d be fun.”

“Oh…” Éponine trailed off. They stared at each other for a moment, until Bahorel cleared his throat loudly.

“Then take a seat, my lady. You’re here for a show.”

Cosette sat down next to Musichetta, who always hung out with them after her treatment, and began chatting with her. Bossuet patted Éponine’s back and winked an eye; it was moments like this that Éponine wondered if she was being too obvious.

Yes, she may have a little bit of a crush on Cosette, but it wasn’t like she was head over heels for her. After all, who wouldn’t be at least slightly in love with Cosette? The blonde was pretty, and funny, and those dimples on her cheeks were simply adorable, not to mention she could rock a particular pair of skinny jeans like no one Éponine had ever seen. But it couldn’t even been called a _crush_ , right? Why was everyone making such a fuss out of Cosette staying at the place? Musichetta did it all the time, it was cool. There was absolutely no reason to be nervous… Right?

Éponine swallowed hard and cleaned her chair, jumping a little when she heard the bell at the door announcing a new customer. “Jehan! My boy! Please, come in,” Courfeyrac welcomed another one of their friends, a young man who always tried the weirdest styles and colors on his —formerly— copper hair. Éponine patted the back of her chair to let him know she was free, and the boy took a seat.

“Greetings, Cosette!” Jehan said cheerfully, watching the blonde through the mirror. “Are you here for your monthly haircut? Or will you finally let precious Éponine work her magic hands on you?” Bahorel snorted next to her and Éponine’s blush intensified. She punched Bahorel’s arm, hoping Cosette hadn’t caught up on it.

“I already had my hair done, Jehan. But maybe I’ll allow something more drastic. I want to see what Éponine can do with the dye hair first, though. I’ve heard wonderful things about her skills.” Everyone in the place stared at Cosette for a whole minute in complete silence. “What?” the blonde asked innocently.

“Did you just agree to let her dye your hair?” Bossuet asked, pointing at Éponine with his scissors.

“Uh, yeah?”

Jehan smirked. “Those are joyful news! I believe pink would look amazing on you. Or purple. Those are definitely your colors.”

“How about both?” Musichetta suggested, taking Cosette’s hand between her own excitedly. “Éponine, you can do her purple roots and pink hair, what do you think?”

“I don’t know, that’s-” Éponine stuttered. She could. She’d done it a thousand times. But, somehow, doing it to Cosette made her impossibly nervous. Like she would no doubt fuck it up, making Cosette angry and she would never see her again. That’s exactly how nervous she was.

“Could you?” Cosette asked with nothing but absolute trust in her eyes.

“She can and she will!” Jehan stated. “Come on, Ép, do me. I was thinking blue and green. I like those.”

And so Éponine began to work.

It was a long process, but Cosette was happily paying attention the whole time. Éponine could feel her eyes on her and she had to stop a few times to take a deep breath and remind herself that she knew what she was doing. By the time she finished, Cosette was standing way too close to her, admiring Jehan’s hair.

“Oh, my God! It’s so pretty!” she said and Éponine breathed steadily again. “This is what I want. This is definitely what I want.”

“Oh, sadly, Éponine’s shift just finished,” Courfeyrac said pouting.

“Really?” Cosette asked, looking up at Éponine, with sad eyes.

Éponine glared at Courf, torned between throwing her brush at her, or saying, as politely as she could, that she was willing to work after time if Cosette wanted. Her boss smirked and answered the blonde’s question.

“Yeah, I’m afraid so. But! She can go to your place, if you want.”

“She can?!”

“I can?” they said in unison.

“Of course! And just because it’s you, I won’t charge extra.”

Cosette’s demeanor changed right away and she looked back at Éponine with her hands together in a pleading gesture. “Please?” she begged, although Éponine would’ve done it either way.

“Okay, let me go grab my things,” she added as the blonde hugged Musichetta in celebration.

 

***

 

Once Éponine had everything she needed in a couple of traveling bags, Cosette took her to the students’ dormitories at the university campus.

While Éponine knew Cosette was in town to study, she never thought she was living _in_ the actual campus, and she felt a little shy over walking inside a place she’d last seen a while ago. After Cosette closed the door to her room behind them, Éponine fidgeted awkwardly with the strap of her bag.

“There’s the bathroom,” the blonde instructed. “Take all you need and if there’s something else I can help you with, let me know. My roommates won’t be here for the night, so you can take as much space as you want.”

Éponine nodded, smiling at the little thrill the blonde’s words prompted in her stomach. She took over the bathroom and, when she had everything ready, she called Cosette. The blonde showed up at the bathroom door wearing light pajamas that consisted in a tank top and a short. Éponine patted the toilet where she’d lowered the lid to make a seat for Cosette, and smiled encouragingly to the blonde.

“Just so you know”, Cosette said, following Éponine’s instructions. “You’re the only one I’d ever let do this. That’s how much I trust you.”

Éponine smiled sideways, wondering if it was okay to touch Cosette’s bare arm. “Thank you,” she answered, turning to grab what she needed instead.

Dyeing someone’s hair in that person’s house was messy and troublesome but, even though Éponine would deny it till the day she died, she took great pleasure in being this close to Cosette. Touching another person’s head was an intimate act that Éponine sometimes didn’t like. It had to do with the people the hair was attached to, but right now, cramped in Cosette’s tiny bathroom, sliding her brush over the blonde hair leaving behind a trace of color, Éponine could assure there was nowhere else she’d rather be.

The room soon filled with the smell of hydrogen peroxide as Éponine applied the hair dye. Cosette was talking non-stop about her classes and other projects after Éponine asked what her major was. Chemistry. Cosette was a total science nerd. Éponine was realizing until now that she didn’t know the girl as much as she wanted to but, surprisingly, the more the blonde said, the more Éponine liked her. It was endearing how excited the other girl got after talking about things Éponine could never understand. That also placed Cosette way out of her league. A scientist with a hairdresser? Yeah, right. Because that made sense.

“Sorry, I’m bothering you with all this talk,” Cosette apologized when Éponine was applying the last touches. “You’re probably thinking I’m a self-absorbed prick,” she laughed.

“Of course not!” Éponine hurried to correct. “I think… I think it’s fascinating.” Cosette smiled sweetly and Éponine looked away. “We’re done here,” she murmured, collecting her things. “We just have to wait a little while before washing your head.”

“You’re helping me with that, too, right?” Cosette asked while making funny faces at her reflection on the mirror.

“Yeah, sure,” Éponine answered, laughing softly at Cosette’s antics. She looked completely ridiculous with all the foil paper on her head. “You could probably catch a radio station with all that,” she joked.

“I bet,” Cosette said between giggles.

They watched TV while waiting for the chemicals to react and, once the time was up, they walked back to the bathroom. Cosette sat down on the floor next to the bathtub with her head resting on the porcelain edge. Éponine knelt beside her, and pointed the shower head towards the blonde.

“Close your eyes,” she instructed, turning the water spray on.

They didn’t talk during that and, instead, Cosette hummed a song the whole time. “This feels nice,” she commented. “It’s always nice when it’s you,” she added like an afterthought. Éponine didn’t stop to think what that meant, wrapping a towel around Cosette’s head.

“Come on, I’ll get you up.”

Éponine dried Cosette’s head with the towel and took it off to let her see herself in the mirror; she was pretty sure the sound that came out of Cosette’s mouth wasn’t human.

“Oh, my God!” she yelled, running her fingers through his —now— purple and pink hair. “Oh, my God!” she repeated herself while shaking her head vigorously, making her hair fly around her. “I wanna marry my own hair, is that legal?”

“I doubt it.” Éponine laughed fondly. “Well, my job here is done. I better go now.”

Éponine’s words seemed to be the only thing capable of detaching Cosette’s eyes from the mirror. “You have to?” she asked, seemingly disappointed. “My roommates, remember? They won’t be here for the night… And, well, it’s late. Maybe you… You can stay here if you want.”

No. No, she couldn’t stay there. It was too tempting. No. “Okay.” _Shit_. “If that’s okay with you?”

“It is. Come, we’ll have cake for dinner.”

After they eat a big slice of chocolate cake each, Cosette announced they should probably go to bed. Éponine just nodded, looking down at the navy blue pajamas the blonde was handing her. “I guess I’ll take… Uhm…” There was no couch in that place and sleeping in someone else’s bed without their permission was probably not good manners. “The floor?” she said, unsure.

“No, you’re not. My bed’s big enough for two.”

And so Éponine lay down on Cosette’s bed, facing the blonde, and trying to fight back the monumental urge to wrap her arm around the other’s waist. She closed her eyes for a second, decided to sleep, just to open them up again a moment later when she felt Cosette’s shifting closer to her. “Thank you,” the blonde whispered, taking Éponine’s hand under the covers. Éponine nodded dumbly and that must have meant something to Cosette because the next thing she did was kissing Éponine.

Just like that, her soft lips pressed firmly over Éponine’s own for a fraction of second before moving backwards. “I’m really happy you’re here,” she added.

“Me too,” Éponine mumbled back, kissing Cosette’s lips once again.


End file.
